New Guy
by comet77
Summary: Sara and Maddy are two high school girls considered outcasts of the school, along with their friends. But when some new guys come into their lives, Sara has no idea what to do and Maddy is caught completely off guard; falling in love!
1. Chapter 1

**!DISCLAIMER! I DO NOT OWN D. GRAY MAN OR ANY OF IT'S CHARACTERS.**

PROLOGUE

Steven's High School was like any other American high school. Pretty big, boring, and full of people; good and bad. Of course, that's how Sara thought of it. She and her dorky friends were kind of a separate race of people to the others around her; In other words, they were considered freaks. But Sara didn't care anymore. Being in high school, you know that there's no going back now.

Sara was kind, smart, and known for being a little shy. But with her friends, she was a whole different person. She was confident, funny and sarcastic, but everyone who knew her loved her.

What she didn't know, however, is that someone was going to come into her life with a lot of love to give. But there's one problem; She is TOTALLY clueless about that kind of stuff.

"Sara, did you get the math homework done?"

The petite brunette shrugged sheepishly.

"Heh, no...I stayed up last night watching anime again..."

Her friend sighed.

"I just don't understand how you manage to pass all those classes you take...I swear, you're the queen of cramming."

Sara laughed. Sam was a great friend, but right now she was being a total hypocrite. Like she ever did her homework. And she was also in advanced English. But...she was barely maintaining a C average. Ha.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Anyway, have you seen Maddy anywhere? She said she had something important to tell me...wonder what it was?"

Sam pulled her coat off the rack, then picked up her bag.

"I dunno. I haven't seen her all morning. But I bet if you wait here for a while she'll show up. I'm gonna go put my project in the chemistry room, but I'll be back. See you!"

Sara waved to her as she left the room and sat down in a desk, taking out her math homework. _Might as well get started_, she thought.

Just then she heard footsteps behind her, and she looked up. Walking through the door of the classroom was Maddy, her short blond hair bouncing with her steps. Behind her though, was someone else, someone Sara had never seen before. He was probably the same age as she, with strange white hair cut just above his shoulders. He smiled warmly at her. Maddy beckoned her over.

"Sara, this is Allen. Allen Walker. He's new here and the principle asked me to show him around. He's from Britain!" Maddy explained excitedly.

Sara smiled back at him cutely and held out her hand. The young man took it gratefully.

"Nice to meet you!" he exclaimed.

Sara blushed slightly and nodded.

"Um, ditto..." she stuttered nervously. _What is this feeling? _She thought. He was quite handsome, she had to admit. But she had never felt this way before.

Allen looked around the room, obviously looking for a place to sit, and he just happened to pick the one next to Sara. Not to her dismay of course.

Maddy sat behind her and tapped her on the shoulder.

"Can you come with me for a sec?" she whispered.

Sara nodded and muttered a "be right back" to Allen, then followed her friend out of the room.

"Ok," Maddy said when they were out of earshot. "I need you to show Allen around for me today. It's Mom's birthday today and we're all leaving school at lunch time to go out to eat. The principle didn't seem to know about it, so I just went with it when he told me about Allen. Besides, I knew I could always count on you for help. So would you mind?"

Sara's eyes widened.

"B-but, I've never been alone with a boy before! Please don't leave me! I wouldn't know what to say-"

Maddy stopped her with a pat on her shoulder.

"It's all right silly. I think you and him can really get along! He's so sweet; you'll like him a lot. It would be way better if you stayed with him than if I did. And you'll be fine; he's a really nice guy!"

Sara sighed in defeat. She knew there was no way out of this one.

"A-all right..."

"Whoo! Thanks a bunch Sara! You're a really big help! Now, I've gotta go to the office to tell them I'm leaving. Have fun with him! And remember; you'll be fine."

And with that, she was gone, leaving Sara standing there dumbfounded. Her, with a boy? And he's so cute! He's probably going to be asking lot of questions...Sara wasn't very good with that sort of stuff...but she'd have to deal with it.

With a deep breath, Sara turned around and re-entered the room, heading straight to him. This was going to be interesting.

**Author's Note: I'm sorry it's short, but it's only the first chapter. Other characters from DGM will be appearing later as well. Please review and tell me what you think! **


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Well uh, I basically completely forgot about this story, so I'm trying to bring it back! Hope you like it!**

**-Comet**

Sara looked at the clock at the other end of the room; 8:00. Well, class didn't start for another half an hour, so she had time to show Allen around. She looked back to the boy nervously, her cheeks burning red just at the thought of having a boy so close to her. Allen was looking back at her calmly, a sweet smile spread across his face, making her blush only harder. Sara stood up suddenly, making the boy jump.

"Alright!" She said rather loudly, not paying attention to the other students hanging out in the classroom. Sara grabbed Allen's hand and dragged him out of the room quickly, paying no mind to her friends watching from the other side of the room.

"…what's gotten into Sara all of sudden?" asked a girl with hair dyed black cut just above her shoulders, sitting lazily with a hot cup of starbuck's coffee in her hand.

"Well apparently there's this new kid here, and Sara's stuck with showing him around. Maddy dumped it on her." said the girl sitting in the desk beside her, twiddling her long dark brown hair in her fingers.

"Ooooh, that seems interesting. He's cute too; I'd gladly take her place."

"We all know that would be a disaster, Bri. Now just let her do this herself; it'll be good for her."

"Whatever Sam," Briann said at her friend's first comment, scoffing playfully. "Like you could do any better."

Sam blushed, looking away. "Shut up."

Bri smiled at her friend, then turned to the girl sitting behind her.

"Say Ambyr, care to go with me to get some breakfast in the cafeteria? I know you didn't have breakfast this morning. I'll bye you some grub."

Ambyr closed the laptop quickly, looking up at the word 'grub' with a hungry look in her eyes. "YES PLEASE."

Sam sighed at the two of them, shaking her head disappointingly. "You're just doing this because you want to follow Sara, aren't you?"

Briann laughed innocently.

"Oh please, that's just silly. Like I'd do something like that…"

Bri looked up to both girls, even the starving Ambyr, staring at her hardly, narrowing their eyes at her.

"…right." They said in unison sarcastically, never taking their eyes off of Bri.

Briann sighed in defeat. "Ok, you got me; but seriously, I'm starving just as much as Ambyr is. So let's _go-_" Bri grabbed a hold of Ambyr's wrist and yanked her out of the chair, pulling her out of the classroom hurriedly. Sam stared after them lazily, then continued finishing her math homework.

Sara stopped in front of the staircase leading to the choir room, then turned to Allen, panting. Just then she realized she was still holding his hand, her eyes growing wide as she detangled her fingers from his. Looking around awkwardly, Sara began explaining where they were.

"Um, down here is the choir room, and also the band rooms. The orchestra doesn't get a classroom, so they practice in the that unused lobby upstairs, or on the stage in the theatre whenever it's open…" Sara silently cursed at the school board for not letting her orchestra have a proper classroom like the band kids did, clenching her fists and furrowing her brows intently. Allen noticed her sudden mood change.

"Are you in the orchestra?" He asked curiously.

"Huh? Oh, yes…" Sara answered nervously, twirling her hair in between her fingers. Allen smiled at her reaction.

_She's so cute. I'm glad she's the one showing me around today,_Allen thought to himself happily.

"Really? What instrument do you play?"

"Uh, the violin actually…I'm not very good at it though…" Sara answered honestly, looking down to avoid his eyes.

"But do you like to play?" Asked Allen intently.

Sara looked up at that. "Oh yes! There's not a feeling more wonderful than playing that beautiful music! I…I just can't explain it!" She turned to her side, staring up at an imaginary sky with sparkling eyes.

"When I'm playing, I feel as though I'm somewhere else, where there is nothing but beauty, and love-"

"Ha, you believe in love?"

Sara turned meekly to the voice behind her, instant hatred burning in her eyes when she recognized who he was. A boy, taller than she was with an arrogant air about him looked down at her, a smirk playing across his face.

"There's no way a freaky little girl like you is ever gonna find a guy to love you."

Sara looked down at the floor silently, tears coming to her eyes. Allen saw this and stepped in front of her.

"I don't know who you are, but you have no right to go around making young ladies cry like that. Act like a proper gentlemen and leave."

Allen's voice ran thick with malice, his accent becoming more apparent with his sudden anger, and the boy instantly knew it was time to leave. He quickly turned and walked away, casting a hateful glance over his shoulder. Sara stared at Allen in awe.

"Th-thank you," she said quietly, walking towards him. Allen took one finger and wiped away a tear in her eye.

"Huh? Oh! I wasn't crying or anything! Um, there was just, um, something in my eye! Yes, my contact was acting all wonky, and oh what a time to do so-"

"It's alright to cry, you know." Allen interrupted gently. "You don't have to hide it."

Sara blinked at him, then looked down, blushing madly.

Allen chuckled. "So who was that?"

Sara looked back up with a look of pure hatred in her eyes.

"His name's Chaney. I don't like hating people, but he's just the worst! He's always making fun of me, and my friends too! He never leaves us alone…really, we're just outcasts here." Sara clenched her fists, her face burning and the tears returning.

"We're…nobody to them. We don't even matter."

Allen felt a pang of sadness for the girl. Reaching out suddenly, he took her hand, squeezing it reassuringly. At his touch Sara pulled away, embarrassed, but Allen for some reason wouldn't let her, pulling her into a hug.

Allen had no idea what he was doing, letting his instincts take over. He silently scolded himself for touching a lady without permission, but he felt so bad for her, he felt he just had to do something to comfort her. But where did hugging her come from? He barely knew her; they had only just met this morning. Yet even then he had felt instantly attracted to her, and seeing her cry just made his heart wrench. Allen decided to play it by ear, letting Lavi's advice flow into his mind.

"You see," he whispered into her ear gently. "I don't think you're nobody. In fact, I like you lot. Can we be friends?"

Sara, still blushing like mad, let her arms wrap around him, and silently she nodded into his shoulder. "O-of course! I'd…I'd like that very much. "

Allen let go of her, his hands on her shoulders, still smiling at her sweetly. It was as if hugging girls he just met was totally okay for him, but Sara's heart was beating a mile a minute.

"Alright then; can you show me where the office is again? I'm afraid I forgot how to get there…my sense of direction isn't so good you see…"

Sara looked at him curiously. "Yes, of course, but why?"

Allen laughed, then winked at her.

"I'd like to make a few changes to my schedule is all. I need you to come with me though."

"Okay, but why would you want to do that, if you don't mind me asking?"

There was a pause; then Allen turned to her and took her hand, kissing it softly.

"Because I'd like to be in all the same classes as you are, if you don't mind of course."

Sara's eyes grew wide as her cheeks flushed a deep red_again_, and Allen couldn't help but giggle at her reaction.

"U-um, that's f-fine… _"_

_She is just too cute,_he thought to himself excitedly. _Then it's settled; I'm not letting this girl out of my sight. She just might be the one..._

Allen thought back to that time a year ago, when Lavi first became his foster brother. The red head was always so perverted and goofy, but Allen and him became good friends. Allen never ceased to ask Lavi for advice, being the youngest, and Lavi never ceased to give it to him without question. And when the day finally came for Allen toask about the opposite sex, Lavi was more than happy to assist him, giving him pointers on how to flatter a woman, and also how to comfort them. Lavi also offered to teach him all the different ways to look up girls' skirts, but Allen graciously declined. Along with all those totally helpful tidbits, he also mentioned about how one day there was going to be one girl that just stood out from all the others, the girl that one was supposed to fall in love with. Lavi explained that once you meet this girl, she will be like no other, constantly being on your mind, and you on hers. Lavi told him that this happens to all those who wait, and even though this was totally out of character for the older boy, Allen noticed how serious he looked when he said it, and now Allen completely understood what he meant. Sara seemed to be the one that stood out the most; she was kind to him, and always had a smile on her face. She was also beautiful, and she seemed wonderful in every other way as well. With all of this, Allen was almost completely convinced that Sara was the one he was waiting for.

Allen nodded at her answer and followed her down the long hallway to the office. Once they arrived, Allen immediately went to the lady at the desk marked _Student Services_ and began conversing with her about his schedule. The woman sufficiently went straight to her computer, asking for his name and grade, and then went to work finding all of his student records. When that was finished, she asked Allen for the classes he wanted changed, so he called Sara over and asked her to pull out her schedule so that the woman could copy it, and instantly the deed was done. Seriously, technology these days.

Allen happily took the printout of his new schedule and looked it over, but he was so concentrated on the little piece of paper that Sara had to take his hand gently and lead him to his now official first class; English.

Sara led him back into the room they started in, and by now, all of Sara's friends had gathered in the far end of the classroom, discussing new anime titles and arguing over which Kyo was better. Mr. Robinson, the teacher of English 11, surprisingly liked anime as well, so Sara and her friends took a liking to him and usually took over his classroom in the morning before class started to hang out together, since they didn't see much of each other during the day.

Briann and Ambyr were already back with their breakfast, Ambyr greedily munching in the far corner while Bri flitted around her friends playfully, impossible energy fueling her body from her quick meal. They were a little disappointed about having lost Sara in the hallway during her tour, but they knew they could always bug her about it later. Maddy was back as well, pulling her latest drawings out of her binder to show to everyone, irritated at the boy carelessly looking over her shoulder.

"Marcus, there's a thing called personal space," Maddy snapped at him, handing a drawing to Sam.

"I know," said Marcus stupidly, sitting clumsily beside her, annoyingly close. Maddy toyed with the idea of throwing the clingy boy out the window for a second, but the thought was instantly dismissed when she saw Sara walk into the room, Allen close behind her looking at a paper.

Wait a second. They were holding hands.

Maddy's attention was clearly focused on her friend, Marcus's babbling perfectly tuned out from her mind. She watched as Sara led Allen to Mr. Robinson's desk, explaining that Allen was a new transfer student and that this was his first class. Mr. Robinson nodded in understanding and stood up, offering his hand to the new comer. Allen didn't notice, since he was still focused only on his schedule, so Sara nudged him. Allen looked up, startled, then saw Mr. Robinson's hand and took it gratefully, extending his greeting and apologies to his sudden lapse in manners. The teacher just laughed and told Allen to sit behind Sara, explaining how the kid who was supposed to be sitting there insisted on disobeying his teacher and sitting clear across the room or not coming to class entirely. Again, just another jerk in Sara's school who isn't prone to showing his manners to a young lady.

Allen nodded and put his books down on his new desk, and finally his schedule. Sara then took his hand again, and at the gesture it was Allen this time who blushed, and this didn't go unnoticed by Maddy. Sara stopped to look at Allen when she noticed how uncomfortable he looked.

"U-um, I'm sorry, would you rather I didn't hold your hand?" She asked nervously.

"Oh, no, uh...it's alright," he replied sheepishly, looking down and letting his hair fall over his face so that she couldn't see him blushing. Maddy of course didn't miss a thing. She watched as her friend gently took the boy's hand again and led him over to the group.

"Hey, I'm back you guys," Sara said in a familiar tone, and when she had everyone's attention, she gestured to the boy next to her.

"This is my new friend Allen Walker." Allen smiled in greeting and held out his hand to the closest person, who just so happened to be Briann. Bri took it excitedly and smiled back.

"Hey, my name's Briann, but everyone just calls me Bri. Nice to meet you." You could almost see the hearts spinning in her eyes.

Allen nodded at her greeting uncomfortably and turned to the girl sitting next to her, Sam.

"Hi, I'm Samantha. Just call me Sam though. If you ever need anything, you can always ask me."

"Hi, and I'm Ambyr. I don't have a nickname though…"

Allen laughed at that last comment, then turned to the next girl.

"You already know me silly," Maddy said humorously when Allen greeted her. Allen laughed in agreement and instead turned to the boy next to her.

"Marcus."

"Hi, nice to meet you," Allen said to the boy kindly. Marcus reluctantly shook his hand, and Allen could see the jealousy in his eyes. _He must have a crush on Maddy…_ Allen deducted thoughtfully, and by the look in Maddy's eyes for that matter, she didn't seem very taken by him. In fact, she seemed quite tired of him.

Allen put the thought out of his mind and turned back to stand next to Sara.

"Hey guys, class is gonna start, so get out of here." Mr. Robinson said jokingly, pointing to the clock, displaying two minutes to the start of class. Bri jumped out of her seat and ran out of the classroom, muttering something about having to get to the gym. Ambyr and Sam gathered their things and sauntered out of the room together, then Maddy followed suit after she found all of her drawings still intact, Marcus tailing close behind her. Sara sighed at the pair; Marcus was just one of those guys who would never leave the girl he likes alone. Thinking that the whole world revolved around him, he demanded Maddy's attention 24/7, and since no one had the heart to tell him to scram, he had no idea that no one actually liked him. Oh well…

Allen broke her out of her thoughts by putting his hands on her shoulders and gently leading her to her desk and sitting her down, smiling down at her with a twinkle in his eye.

"Class is about to start, remember?"

Sara blushed again and nodded. Allen then sat down in his own desk behind her, but before Sara could proceed to get her notebook and last night's English assignment out of her bag, she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned to see Allen leaning over his desk to her, a questioning look on his face.

"Can I ask you something?" He asked quietly.

Sara nodded.

"Alright then. I'm quite curious, so do you have a boyfriend at this time?"

Sara didn't know what to say. No one had ever asked her that before.

"Um, no," she said quietly, her face turning red again. "Why do you ask?"

Allen winked at her. "Oh, like I said, just curious."

**A/N: Hm. Allen's turning out to be quite a player, neh? Ah well. Hope you like it! Please review for me; reviews are always greatly appreciated. ^_^**

**-Comet**


	3. Chapter 3

New Guy part 3~

Maddy stormed down the hallway, infuriated by the message received by her mother. Apparently some friends surprised her with a trip to a spa, so she was taking the whole day off. That meant Maddy was still going to school for the whole day today, without a fancy lunch at her mother's favorite restaurant and without the privilege of not dealing with that annoying Marcus at lunch in school. Gyaaaaah.

It was currently second period; in the middle of World History class, the office called her down to receive a message left by her mother. Now that she was coming back, in an extremely bad mood no less, History seemed like a total waste of time right now with her brain spiraling down into madness. There was no way she could concentrate now, so she decided that taking a nap would be the best way to calm down for her next class at least; art. Art was definitely her favorite class, for she was extremely good at it and she loved to do it. Not only that, her classmates were a lot of fun, excluding Marcus, who insisted on taking the class with her.

Her art class was like a big family; everyone talked to each other about whatever they wanted, and there were never any issues with people except, again, with Marcus. The boys had a funny way of showing Maddy their affections though; picking her up and passing her around. Maddy indeed was very pretty and cute, and the fact that she was talented only added to the stuff to like about her. So boys loved picking her up. That's the art boys for ya.

Maddy smiled to herself as she strategically propped her World History textbook up in front of her face, so as to hide the fact that she was sleeping. The rest of the period thankfully was nothing but a study hall, so it was nice and quiet. Maddy fell asleep instantly, the soft marking sounds of the pens and pencils around her soothing to her sleep.

"Maddy, wake up already," a classmate beside her said, shaking her gently. "Class is over…you've gotta get out of here before the teacher notices you…"

Maddy sat up slowly and rubbed her eyes, then nodded in understanding and thanks to the person who graciously woke her up.

"Thanks, I'll be going now," Maddy mumbled tiredly, the remnants of sleep still in her body. She slowly gathered her stuff and trudged out of the room, still rubbing her eyes.

Maddy stopped in the middle of the hallway and had to think for a moment. _What class do I go to again? Ah, art. Goooood,_she thought to herself happily, turning left.

When she finally arrived at the classroom, Katelyn and Marcus were already there waiting for her, as usual. Katelyn was busy making fun of Marcus for something; it was obvious by the smirk on her face and the defeated vibe coming off of Marcus. Katelyn's almost maroon hair bobbed with her laughs, and her glasses fell down her nose. Maddy smiled at the sight; she could always depend on Katelyn to make Marcus feel like crap for her.

Maddy made her way to their table, sitting across from the two of them, for the table seated four; two on each side. Maddy sat alone with her back to the front of the classroom on one side with an empty seat on her left, always vacant since the class was always short one person to the amount of students the room can actually hold. Marcus sat directly across from Maddy with Katelyn beside him, always making sure to bug him. Maddy set her bag down and pulled out her latest art project, kept neatly in a cardboard tube so as not to wrinkle or fold it. As always, Marcus snatched it up and opened it, clumsily pulling the artwork out of the tube, almost ripping it.

"_Marcus,_ be careful for God's sake. And ask first." Maddy snapped at him, very obviously annoyed. Marcus only shrugged and continued looking at her work. Katelyn sighed and took the artwork away from him, put it gently back into the tube, and gave it back to Maddy. Maddy blinked gratefully at her.

"Hey," Marcus began, apparently shocked at the action taken against him. Katelyn only glared at him.

"That was obviously very rude Marcus. Apologize."

"No, you apologize! I was looking at that you and just took it away from me suddenly!" he shot back stubbornly, receiving only a colder glare from both girls. The boy only shrugged, going into his "emo mode" as Maddy nicknamed it. Marcus instantly avoided both their gazes and turned the other way, overdramatically setting his pencil down and looking out the window.

During this whole ordeal however, the three didn't notice the teacher introduce a new boy to the class. He had long blond hair pulled back in a pony tail and bright gold eyes, but as unusual as it was it suited him. He looked around the room and extended his greeting to his new class, and the teacher instructed him to take a seat next to the blond girl in the back. He was hesitant at first; the group seemed to be having an argument.

"It's alright Edward," the teacher said coolly. "They do this all the time. You'll be sitting next to Maddy over there; she's a fun girl, and everyone likes her a lot."

The boys in the room nodded enthusiastically. _Well that's a little weird,_ Edward thought to himself.

The teacher continued. "Just go over there and sit. It'll hopefully bring them back to reality, since they don't seem to be paying any attention to class," she said amused, then went back and sat at her desk, muttering something about taking the attendance.

Edward made his way over to the table, standing behind the chair he was about to sit in. The group was startled at his sudden appearance, and the one called Maddy stood up suddenly.

"Oh! Um…" she began, her eyes meeting his.

For a while they just stood there, staring at each other. Maddy couldn't get over how good he looked with his long blond hair and gold eyes, and Edward couldn't get over how good she looked with her short blond hair and blue eyes.

_He's so handsome,_she thought.

_She's so…pretty,_ he thought.

"Ahem, excuse me?"

The two broke their trance and looked at Katelyn, who was looking at the two hardly with an eyebrow raised. Marcus was already in the corner fuming.

"I'm afraid that when you two are standing like that, I can't see a thing. In fact, since this bozo over here," she gestured toward Marcus, "was getting all hot headed about not making an apology, I don't even know what's going in in class right now. Would you mind sitting down?"

Edward and Maddy sat down immediately, both of them blushing.

"So uh…what's your name?" Maddy asked him nervously.

"Edward Elric, but you can just call me Ed." he answered. "And you're Maddy right?"

Maddy looked at him curiously. "You know me?"

"Yeah, when the teacher told me to sit by you she told me your name," Ed stated, an amused smile making its way onto his face. Maddy smiled back at him blushing, then turned back to her project, opening the tube and _gently_ pulling it out to do some last minute touchups. Edward marveled at the work.

"Wow, you're amazing! Did you draw this yourself?"

Maddy nodded proudly. "Indeed I did. It's a hobby of mine you see, and I absolutely love doing it."

Edward continued staring at the artwork in awe, not noticing himself looking dangerously close over Maddy's shoulder. Marcus stood up suddenly.

"Hey you," he began mockingly, his eyes cold. Maddy sighed.

"Look Marcus, he's just looking. Get over yourself."

Marcus sat back down loudly, and Edward wondered how the chair could hold his enormous bulk. Maddy turned back to Edward.

"Here," she said lightly, handing a smaller piece of paper to him. It was an extravagant picture of a boy from a back view, white wings spread out around him. The boy held some kind of tree branch over his head lazily, but what really jumped out at Edward was his hair; it was long and blond, pulled back into a clumsy ponytail just like his was. And the scar on his back…Edward had one just like it on his back as well.

"I drew it last night," Maddy explained, her eyes suddenly clouded. "I don't know; It just suddenly came to me. I loved the image so much that I had to draw it right away. And now I'm giving it to you; I just suddenly feel like you should have it. I hope you like it!"

Edward was lost for words. This girl, that he had only just met, drew a picture of _him._ Ed couldn't help but think it a little odd, but it felt right somehow…

…_what is this feeling?_

Edward didn't know what to think. One boy in the class, Dalton was it? Anyway, he just picked up Maddy from out of nowhere, and before Ed knew it she was being passed around, from one boy to another. He watched as Marcus trailed after her, always making it obvious that he wanted to hold her next. Of course the other boys would always refuse.

Ed got the feeling that Maddy didn't like Marcus, and he also got the feeling that Marcus didn't like him. He always felt him staring coldly at him whenever he would talk to Maddy in some way, whether it was asking a question or just having a normal conversation with her. Edward was always asking about what to do next with his drawing, since he had no drawing experience whatsoever, and Maddy had no problem helping him at all. She happily gave him pointers and tips on how to keep the image you want to draw in your mind and such. Ed had to admit; he definitely enjoyed talking to her whenever he had the chance.

Ed was broken out of his thoughts as he felt someone shove something in his arms. He looked down and saw Maddy there, her eyes closed at the sudden exchange. She opened them and looked up to see who it was, then blushed madly when she realized it was Edward. He blushed as well, then looked around wondering what to do with her. Marcus appeared in front of him suddenly, holding his arms out expectantly with that jealous look in his eyes again.

"Give her to me; she wants to be passed to me," he said arrogantly. Edward glared at him menacingly, then looked down at the girl in his arms.

"Do you want me to stop holding you?"

Maddy blushed only harder at first, but then she quickly caught on to the tactic Edward was using and looked at Marcus, bluntly saying. "No, I don't."

"Well, there you have it," Edward began a-matter-of-factly. "She doesn't want you to hold her, and I don't think she wants you anywhere near her, so buzz off, would ya?"

Maddy only stared in amazement at her sudden savior as Marcus scoffed, obviously humiliated at being called out in front of the whole class, and shuffled away. Katelyn laughed in the back of the room as Marcus retreated to her, and with that Katelyn took the opportunity to just piss him off even more, poking at him and annoying him in any way she could think of.

Back in the center of the room, Edward walked back to their table and put Maddy down gently on her stool, and an annoyed sigh came suddenly from the boy's lips. Maddy looked up at him in alarm, only to be greeted by an apologetic smile.

"Sorry about that; I hate watching people make asses out of themselves and expecting everyone to love them for it. I just noticed earlier that you seemed bothered by him, so I guess I kinda went overboard…"

"Not at all, actually…" Maddy began sheepishly, blushing all the while. "You did me a great favor today, and I thank you."

Ed only nodded, and he found himself blushing as well. Just then Edward heard silent footsteps behind him, and turned around to see a girl with long brown hair sneaking in sneaking into the classroom low to the ground, so as not to be seen by the teacher, leading a boy by the hand behind her. The boy had white hair, but as odd as it was, Edward learned that his own hair and eye color were quite odd as well, so he learned not to judge. Maddy looked around Edward to see what he was looking at.

"Sara!" she exclaimed, running around Ed to hug her. The one called Sara hugged her back, then stood up as she realized she made it into the classroom unnoticed by the teacher.

"What are you doing here?" Maddy asked curiously, leading her friend to their table to sit down. Katelyn and Marcus were off cleaning the supplies they had used today in the bathroom, and Maddy told Katelyn to take as much time as she could. Distracting Marcus that is. Maddy refocused her attention on Sara.

"Well, as you know, I have orchestra right now, but Mr. Evans called in sick today so we had a sub. As usual the sub didn't know anything about music, so she turned the class into a study hall. I asked if Allen and I could go to the library and she said yes, but I decided to come here instead."

Maddy nodded in fake understanding across the table at her friend's cleverness. Just then Sara noticed the blond boy sitting next to Maddy.

"Oh, I never introduced myself, did I?" Sara asked Edward politely, catching him a little off guard. "I'm Sara, and this is Allen." she explained, pointing to the white haired boy sitting next to her. Edward nodded in greeting.

"Nice to meet you," Ed replied back charmingly.

Sara smiled at him sweetly, then turned looking around the room as if looking for something.

"I feel like something should be bothering us right now…ah, where's Marcus?" Sara asked jokingly.

"Oh, he and Katelyn are in the bathrooms cleaning the supplies; it was their turn today. I told Katelyn to make sure that they took their time, so they should be a while."

Sara sighed in relief. "Good, that was the one thing I was _not_ looking forward to coming here for,"

Allen decided to take this opportunity to introduce himself to Edward, holding out his hand in his usual form of greeting. "I'm sorry, I didn't get a chance to do this either. It's nice to meet you; I'm Allen, as Sara explained, but I hate to not introduce myself properly. I guess it's a habit of mine..." he finished with a laughing twinkle in his eye.

Ed took his hand gratefully. "Thanks, and same to you. I'm Ed."

Allen nodded and the two started talking, a conversation instantly blooming between the two.

Maddy and Sara began talking as well about Allen's sudden schedule change while Edward and Allen talked about where they were from. Sara explained to Maddy how Allen had all the same classes as her now, and also told her about when Allen asked her if she had a boyfriend. Maddy giggled at the comment and set to work reassuring her, but couldn't help but tease her a little.

"Hey," Maddy began suddenly, a mischievous gleam in her eye. "So uh, I guess you like Allen huh?"

Sara blushed. "W-what makes you say that?"

"Oh come on Sara. I see the way you look at him, and even more the way he looks at you. I think he likes you; why else would he ask you if you had a boyfriend, huh?"

Sara looked down in defeat, not knowing what to say.

"He likes you Sara. Maybe you could-"

Just then the bell rang, and Sara gasped in relief; obviously she wanted this subject avoided at the moment.

"I guess you got save by the bell, huh?" Maddy called humorously as Maddy dragged Allen out of the classroom quickly again to run to their next class. When they were out of sight, she turned back to her table, picking up her things and stuffing them lazily in her backpack.

Maddy stole a glance to her right to watch Edward for a while. Everything he did was attractive; the way he put his things away, the way he pushed a strand of his hair behind his ear whenever it got in the way, the way he-

She snapped out of it when she noticed him staring at her, obviously a little confused by the way she was looking at him.

"Oh! Uh, um…" she stuttered, then looked at the clock dramatically to cover up her embarrassment.

"Well, gotta go! See you at lunch, okay? Come sit with us; it's a lot of fun! At least, when Marcus isn't there, but maybe if you'll be there, he won't bother me anymore. Sara and Allen will be there too; Whattaya say?"

"Sure," Edward said confidently, deciding to ignore the previous awkward moment the two of them just shared. "You won't mind if my younger brother comes too, would you? He's a sophomore this year, and he has the same lunch period as me, so we were already planning on eating together."

Maddy only shook her head excitedly. "Oh no, that's perfectly fine! I'd love to meet your brother! What's his name?"

"Alphonse. I call him Al though."

Maddy sighed in awe. "You know, you boys have just the most beautiful names in the world…"

"You think so?"

Maddy jumped at his comment, apparently unaware that she said that embarrassing thought out loud. "Oh, you heard that? Uh, I guess I said it out loud…but yes, I really do…"

Edward didn't really know what to say. No one had ever told him something like that before. Maddy continued.

"Honestly, all the names around here are just, well, boring. Your name is so…refreshing. A name like Madison is so plain…"

"I don't think so," Edward began out of nowhere, but he stopped himself. "I mean, uh…I think you have a wonderful name, it's not boring at all," he finished awkwardly. _WHAT THE HELL AM I SAYING?_

Maddy just smiled. "Thank you; that's really nice of you to say."

The stared at each other for a moment, and then Maddy turned around and waved as she walked away.

"See ya at lunch Edward!"

Edward watched as she disappeared into the crowd, smiling to himself.

"See you there."

**Alrighty Maddy, I hope you like it; Tell me more fangirl fantasies you have so I can put them in here for you! ;D**

**Everyone: Review please! AND ACTUALLY CRITIQUE IT PLEASE! Just so everyone knows, I'm not making Ed short in this, since Al never lost his body, so there's no reason for him to be. Sorry; no short rants! And as you can see, I'm making Ed a lot more mature than usual, but he'll still have a temper.**

**Thank you very much for reading this latest chapter of mine! It means a lot to me. 3**

**-Comet**


	4. Chapter 4

New Guy part 4~

"Allen, I'm pretty sure you can only get one lunch…"

"Nonsense. The point of a school's lunch is to satisfy the student so that they can continue to learn for the rest of the day. For you it may take only one lunch, but for me it takes five. There's no helping it!"

Sara laughed at her new friend's antics. He looked small, but apparently his stomach consisted of a black hole, or this kid was just completely inhuman. Whatever the case, it made Sara smile. She watched as Allen miraculously balanced the five sets of plates on his tray while he carefully made his way to the paying station. When he arrived, the lunch lady stared in amazement at his stack of food.

"…are you sure you can eat all of that sweetheart?" she asked nervously, having to curve herself around his tray just to see him. He smiled calmly at her.

"Of course Miss. I'll eat every bite, I promise."

She looked at him again doubtfully just to make sure, but Allen just gave another curt nod to tell her to go ahead. She sighed, then asked for his ID.

"U-uh…" he stuttered, looking at the lunch lady incredulously. "My what?"

Luckily Sara came to his rescue. "Your ID card silly; you know, the one that has the picture of you that they took when you first came here?"

Allen immediately remembered what she was talking about, but with his hands full balancing the food on his tray there was no way he could retrieve it from his back pocket. He looked at Sara nervously, a blush making its way on his face as he prepared himself for what he was about to ask of her.

"U-um, Sara? Would you mind…getting it for me? My hands are full, so…"

Sara nodded immediately. "Sure! Where is it?"

"In…my back pocket."

Sara froze in place as her face turned bright red.

"Uh, ok…which one?"

"The left one…"

Sara meticulously moved herself behind the white haired boy, her mind fuzzy with embarrassment. She looked around quickly to make sure no one was looking, then slid her hand into his pocket. To make it even worse, the ID card kept slipping out of her grasp, making her have to reach in ever deeper just to get a hold of it. Sara could feel her face burning, and she knew Allen's was as well. She had to hurry; since they were the earliest ones to the lunchroom after fourth period, no one was in the lines yet waiting to pay. She had to get his ID out before her peers around her thought she was sexually harassing the new kid or some other stupid story they could come up with.

Finally Sara got a good enough grip to pull the cursed card out, and handing it to Allen, her head down, she waited for him to pay without a word. She was so embarrassed at the moment that she thought her heart would burst; what if someone saw? What if—

"Hey Sara, I'm done paying now…"

"Oh!" Sara quickly slid her tray over to the paying area and reached into her pocket for her own ID, but it fell out of her hand to the floor. She stooped to get it, but so did Allen at the same time, and their hands touched.

"Oh, um…" Sara began sheepishly, looking down at the floor. Allen smiled at the girl.

"I got it," he said reassuringly, the traces of the previous awkward situation out of his system and his pale features returning. He gave it to her and waited outside by the table where the silverware was kept for her to pay, and when she was done, they made their way together to the upstairs cafeteria where Sara and her friends usually met to eat their lunches. As usual, her friends had already picked the table in the far right corner against the wall, Bri and Sam already setting their bags down to reserve the table. They stared in amazement at the sudden appearance of Allen and his colossal stack of lunches.

"How…did you even get all of that? I never knew you could get more than one lunch at a time…" Bri alleged, staring up at the tower of food. Sam was speechless next to her.

"Oh yes," Allen answered cheerfully. "I'm very hungry you see, and I eat quite a lot. I guess I just have a high metabolism."

Sara set her tray down at the end of the table and slid over the bench seat. Allen slid in next to her, and Sara watched over her shoulder as Bri and Sam carefully made their way out of the room to get in line for lunch. Suddenly, Sara heard a voice call out from the crowd burning its way through the double doors.

"Yo, Allen!"

A tall red headed boy somehow appeared out of the crowd, holding a tray himself and making his way towards them. Oddly enough, the poor kid had an eye patch over his right eye, but his free brilliant green left eye shone with playfulness and mischief, and a bandana was on his head to make his hair stick up.

_How did he manage to get that past the teachers?_

As Sara was pondering this new kid's clever triumph over somehow sneaking a bandana into the school, Allen greeted the boy back like an old friend.

"Hey, can I sit with ya?" He asked Sara charmingly. "I'm Allen's older brother. We're not related by blood, but he's still my bro! The name's Lavi," he held out his hand in greeting, a goofy grin spreading across his face. Sara didn't hesitate to extend her own greeting.

"I'm Sara, and I'm very happy to meet you Lavi. So do you live with Allen?" Sara asked as she gestured for Lavi to sit. He took a seat on the other side of Allen. "Actually, Allen lives with me. My Gramps and I that is. I was adopted when I was four, and I've lived with the ol' panda ever since then. Allen was just adopted two years ago, but him and I instantly became pals!"

Sara giggled at the two as Lavi playfully pulled Allen into a head lock, ruffling his hair. Allen squirmed out of his grasp.

"Ah-stop it Lavi," Allen exclaimed, laughing all the while. Lavi obliged, then turned to his food and began munching as Allen went back to practically inhaling his own food.

Finally Sam and Bri made it back from the jungle of a lunch line, both of them taking their seats across from the other three. Lavi stood up to offer them a greeting and to explain his sudden appearance but froze. Sara looked up at him, about to ask him what was wrong, but the look in his eyes instantly made her understand.

Lavi was completely frozen, his eyes seemingly glazed over, and he was concentrated on Sam. She didn't notice at first, but then out of earnest Bri nudged her, asking her to look up.

"S…STRIKE!"

Sam jumped at the sudden outburst, and before she knew it Lavi was at her side, holding one hand in his asking her to marry him. Sam stuttered for a moment, not knowing what to do, as Allen face palmed in the background, obviously indicating that this type of thing occurred quite often. As Sam regained her composure, she politely asked Lavi to get up, gently reminding him that she was only sixteen and she had just met him, so there was no way she could marry him. Lavi sighed in defeat, then apologized and went back to his seat in shame. Sam sat back down slowly, obviously still very shocked by what had just taken place.

"Lavi, that was rude," Allen scolded, his food already completely gone. "I'm pretty sure you scared Sam half to death just then…"

"What?" asked the red head stubbornly. "She was gorgeous; my instincts just took over. I am a man you know. Seriously Allen, if you want your new girlfriend to look twice at you, you gotta-"

Allen quickly put his hand over Lavi's mouth to silence him, but it was too late. Sara was already next to him blushing.

"U-um, don't listen to him…he's just a little obnoxious." Allen said nervously, trying to laugh it off. Just then Maddy and Ambyr appeared, Maddy taking a seat on the other side of Sara and Ambyr sitting on the other side of the table next to Bri, bringing Sara's attention off of Allen, and he silently thanked Maddy for her unbeknownst-to-her rescue. Sara smiled at her friend in greeting, noticing that she seemed to be looking for someone. Sara leaned closer to her friend, a teasing glint in her eye.

"Looking for Edward?"

Maddy looked at Sara in alarm, then quickly replaced it with an innocent smile. "N-no! Why would you ask something like that?"

Sara smirked at her. "Just a hunch I guess."

Just then Edward came up behind Maddy, taking a seat on her left.

"Hey," he addressed her kindly, taking note to that fact that she didn't notice him yet. Maddy jumped at his sudden greeting.

"Ah! Um, hi!"

Edward smiled at her, then turned his attention on his meal. Maddy glanced around him to see if his brother was with him, but he was alone.

"Where's your brother?"

"Oh, he's coming. A group of freshman girls started talking to him out of nowhere and he got distracted. I just kind of left him I guess…"

Maddy giggled at Edward's lack of interest. "Oh, I see. So you have a thing against freshman?"

"Oh no, it's not that," Edward started defensively. "it's just annoying to me when Al stops to talk to girls younger than him in the lunch line when I'm in a hurry. He's kind of a player, although he doesn't seem to know it."

"Oh? And why were you in a hurry?"

Edward's face began heating up at Maddy's sudden question. He couldn't tell her that he was in a hurry to see her…that would just be awkward. And it would totally give him away!

"Um…yeah, I was really hungry, so I wanted to get up here to eat fast." he lied, avoiding her eyes. Just then his brother came up from behind him with his tray, and Edward took the opportunity to quickly change the subject. He got up quickly, ignoring the group of squealing girls watching Alphonse from afar.

"Maddy, everyone; this is Alphonse, my younger brother. He's a sophomore this year."

Maddy looked the younger boy over. He was just a little shorter than Ed, with his hair a darker blond and a darker golden brown to his eyes. His hair was cut short, and his face showed a perspective of natural charm, making Maddy instantly understand why there was a harem of young woman showing themselves around every corner. Alphonse quickly offered his hand out to everyone individually, smiling happily to each one and listening carefully to each of them state their names for quick memorization. Edward sat back down next to Maddy, and she couldn't help but notice the slight sign of pride showing on his face, making her smile a little.

After Al was done greeting everyone properly, he plopped himself next to his brother and began eating his lunch as well, but after a while a sour look appeared on his face.

"What's wrong Alphonse?" Asked Ambyr, being the one sitting directly across from him.

Alphonse only continued glaring at his brother, and Edward seemed to look away awkwardly, obviously feeling the burn from his brother's gaze.

"Ed, you didn't drink your milk."

Everyone's attention instantly whipped to Edward's tray, focusing on the perfectly unopened carton of white milk sitting proudly at the right corner of the tray. Edward scoffed.

"Why should I? It's disgusting." he mumbled, almost inaudibly. Al sighed.

"Brother, if you don't drink it, you're bones will rot away and you'll be nothing but skin and…skin!"

"Oh please Al, don't go reciting that crap Pinako gave me when we were kids…"

"But it's true! And besides, if you don't drink your milk, how do you expect to get any taller?"

"ARE YOU CALLING ME SHORT?"

As the two brothers argued, Maddy couldn't help but giggle at the duo. By the way they fought, she could still tell that they really cared for each other.

Allen waited and watched as Sara finished her lunch, and Sara couldn't help but turn red under his gaze. Allen only smiled at her expressions, while Lavi smirked at them. When he finished, Lavi stood up and carried his tray all the way back to the window where the students were meant to drop their dirty dishes off to be washed, dried and prepared readily for the next day. As he made his way down however, Lavi bumped into someone, making the both of them almost drop their trays and all of their contents. Lavi hurriedly turned around to apologize to the person, only to be face to face with an old friend.

"Y…Yuu?"

He received a harsh slap on the head in response.

"It's Kanda, you stupid rabbit," the tall senior shot back at him, his eyes gleaming with annoyance. "I've already told you millions of times not to call me by my first name, half-wit."

Kanda's long black hair was pulled back in a high pony tail, almost like a samurai's. He wore a white button up shirt and black trousers, and not to mention a sour look on his face.

Lavi regained his composure and grinned back up at him, his usual mischievous twinkle in his eye.

"Oh Yuu, you know you're my pal! Why not come see Allen and our new friends? I bet they'd love to meet you! Where's Lenalee anyway? Is she here too?"

Kanda only grunted in response to the sudden sequence of questions thrown at him, and at the last comment the said Chinese teen appeared from behind him. Her hair had grown to a length far past her shoulders, so she kept it up in two high pigtails. Her dark green summer dress only emphasized her brilliant violet eyes, and Lavi felt himself blushing at the sight.

"Hey Lavi! Yes, I'm here too…Brother's moved here for a while, since apparently the air force base here gave him permission to use one of their runways to try out one of his new inventions. If it looks promising, they said they're gonna sponsor him! We're probably gonna be here for the rest of the school year because of this. Kanda got dragged along because old man Zuu wanted some alone time I guess…something about his new girlfriend, which I HIGHLY doubt."

Kanda scoffed at his adoptive grandfather's antics; he was always doing things like this. Whenever Lenalee and her brother Komui would wander into Japan for a while for Komui to get the right supplies for his stupid inventions, Zuu would take that opportunity to send Kanda off with them when they left. Because of that, Kanda has basically been assigned as Lenalee's huffy bodyguard by her over-protective older brother.

Lenalee waited while Lavi and Kanda put their trays away, then followed the red head to the table he was sitting at, Kanda reluctantly following close behind. When they arrived, Lavi didn't need to call out for everyone's attention. Kanda's dark aura was already dispersing throughout the group, creating an atmosphere that felt tense and…a bit scary. Sara felt herself shivering, while Allen stood up to greet his old friends.

"Hey Lenalee! I never expected to run into you here!" He exclaimed happily, familiarly giving the Chinese girl a quick hug. Kanda looked the white haired boy up and down, then nodded in his own greeting.

"Still as short as ever I see, Moyashi." Kanda expressed amusedly.

"IT'S ALLEN, STUPID KANDA! A-L-L-E-N!"

Sara stood up and immediately went to Allen to hold him back from seemingly killing Kanda, but her face revealed an expression of pure laughter at the boy's reaction. When Allen calmed down, Sara gingerly led him back to his seat as Lavi finished introducing everyone.

"That's Alphonse, Edward, Maddy, Sara, Ambyr, Briann, and that gorgeous one at the end is Samantha," Lavi finished with a wink. Sam almost fainted.

"Lavi, stop being so forward," Lenalee scolded, only earning an impish grin in return. Obviously he didn't get it.

Lenalee got herself into a decent conversation with Sara and Maddy, while Kanda just sat next to her quietly. Sara excused herself with Allen to go put their trays away, and a short while after that everyone else did as well. Edward and Maddy made their way down to the dishes window together, ignoring the hard stares they were getting from Marcus a short distance away.

"So," Edward began as Maddy stacked her tray along with everyone else's. "What do we do now?"

"Well, after we eat we always go mess around in the court yard, or go down to a practice room and play the piano and sing. It just depends on the day I guess…what would you like to do, Edward?"

Edward looked at her in surprise. "Well…I would love to hear you sing…" he stated almost inaudibly. Maddy blushed up at him with an excited smile.

"Really, you would?" When Ed nodded, she took his hand and led him through the courtyard into the fine arts department, then down the stairs into the basement. She continued leading him down a long hallway full of little rooms, and he guessed these were the practice rooms. Maddy found an unoccupied one and turned the handle and opened the door, pulling him into the small room with her. As the heavy door slammed shut behind them, Maddy sat herself on the bench in front of the old piano, patting the spot next to her in a gesture for him to sit next to her.

"Everyone else will figure out where we went and come here as well in a while. For now, what would you like to hear?"

Edward only smiled at her. "Whatever you like is fine with me."

Sara looked around the courtyard for Maddy, but there was no sign of her. Allen began to get a worried look in his eyes, and Sara giggled at him.

"It's alright silly," she cooed, making him blush. "If she's not here, then she's downstairs in a practice room, and judging by Edward not being here either, I'd assume she dragged him down there with her. I guess we're spending time in the practice room today!"

Allen looked at her curiously. "What do you do in there?"

"Well, all of us just play around on the piano and sing songs we happen to know. None of us really know how to play the piano except Ambyr, since she taught herself, but she can only play certain songs. So we just wing it most of the time," Sara finished cheerfully. Lavi, Lenalee and Kanda came up behind them.

"Sam had to go present something for her English teacher, so Bri and Ambyr went to go watch. I guess it's just us…"

"Alright then! Follow me please…oh, that is, if you don't mind…" Sara asked sheepishly. Lenalee shook her head.

"Oh please, it's not like we have anything better to do. We'd be happy to hang out with you guys until lunch is over, right Kanda?"

"Tch."

"Well, there you have it. And I'm sure Lavi doesn't mind."

Lavi grinned. "Nope!"

Sara smiled at the three. "Ok! Well, come with me then."

Sara led the three down to the practice room and found the one Edward and Maddy were in, stopping her friends to listen to what was going on inside, the mischievous side of her getting the best of her, and a smirk on her lips.

Sara could hear Maddy singing a lullaby she had taught her; Lacrimosa, a beautiful song Sara had heard in one of her favorite animes. Maddy was singing it well, and sneaking a peek inside, she could see Edward was enjoying it as well. Sara and Maddy both loved to sing, but Maddy couldn't get any choir classes in due to her art classes taking up her schedule already, so Sara always taught her some neat songs instead, or Maddy just learned them on her own.

Sara whispered to the group to wait until Maddy had finished the song, and in response everyone sat down and leaned against the wall in silence. Allen was sitting next to Sara, and their hands nearly touched. Sara fought the urge to blush, but she knew that was something she couldn't control, and she could've sworn that all the blood in her body had rushed to her cheeks in just that very moment.

Thankfully Lacrimosa was a rather short song, and Sara quickly stood back up when she heard Maddy finish. Everyone followed suit and followed her in as she opened the door and entered the small room.

"Hiya!" greeted Lavi from behind, his playful grin still plastered on his face. Maddy smiled warmly at the newcomers.

"Took you guys long enough!"

"Well, Allen here had to explain to one of the lunch ladies about his monstrous amount of food he had purchased, and that took a while…" Sara explained, giggling a little. Allen only looked down in shame.

"I'm sorry…it's just, I'm always so hungry…"

Sara laughed and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry about it!"

Maddy leaned back on the bench to see if anyone was behind them.

"Where are Bri and the others?"

"Oh, remember how Sam skipped out on her speech for English? Well apparently she has to do it for her teacher now; midterm is tomorrow after all."

Maddy nodded in instant understanding, then went back to the piano.

"So, Sara; wanna sing something for our new pals?"

Sara immediately started blushing like mad, shaking her head vigorously.

"I-I can't! You know how I get in front of crowds…"

"Oh come on; I bet Allen would like to hear you sing, right Allen?" The boy in question nodded enthusiastically at the idea.

"Oh yes! That'd be wonderful!"

Maddy looked at her friend in satisfaction. Sara only nodded a little, and Maddy played her a chord to get started.

When Sara began singing, Allen felt himself instantly drawn into her voice. It was sweet and well-trained, and Allen couldn't get enough of it, feeling himself blush at the beauty of it. But before he knew it the song had finished. Lenalee and Lavi clapped, while Kanda made it apparent that he had fallen asleep. Allen also didn't hesitate to show his approval.

"Well done!" Lavi praised, Lenalee nodding in agreement. Maddy smiled proudly, and Edward was clapping as well. Sara looked down at the floor blushing, then took a seat in the chair in the corner. Lenalee turned her attention to Maddy, asking her to sing another one. Maddy obliged graciously, and began singing a song from another anime. Edward was again lost in awe at the lightness of her voice; it was so tranquil, so sweet…he could almost fall asleep to it. He felt so peaceful, and he watched as she moved her lips with each syllable, how she swayed with the beat. He couldn't help but notice how beautiful she was with everything she did. And then the song ended, breaking Ed from him thoughts.

_Ding…Ding…_

"Ah crap, that's the bell!" Maddy exclaimed, grabbing Edward's hand again and standing up. The others stood as well.

"Well," Lenalee began kindly. "Thank you for the wonderful performance! You two are really talented you know. Even Kanda liked it."

"Tch."

"…like I said. I guess I'll be seeing you guys later! I'm a junior too, so I might have a class or two with you later on today!"

With a small wave she left, and Kanda made his leave as well. Lavi grinned as usual, then followed behind them.

Maddy dragged Edward out of the room to lead him to his next class, and Sara dragged Allen to their next class right behind them, flicking the light switch off as they went. Edward and Allen couldn't help but think for the millionth time that day; _What is this feeling?_

**Well that was a dumb ending. Ah well I guess…I've got such horrible writer's block right now, so please don't hate me if this chappy sucks. I don't expect it to be anything special.**

**Oh yeah, and please review! A well-rounded critique is always highly appreciated!**

**-Comet**


	5. Chapter 5

New Guy part 5~

Edward scurried out of Geometry as soon as the bell had rung at 3:20, dodging a couple making out next to the open door to the classroom and heading down the hallway to the main entrance of the school. He stopped at his locker on the way there, absentmindedly sliding his heavy textbooks on the shelf above his head, then grabbing his coat and slamming the flimsy metal door behind him. Ed had agreed with his brother that they would meet at the stone circle in front of the school to walk home together, and Ed wanted to get home quick. He still had some unpacking to do, and he wanted to get home before that stupid guardian of his to have some peace and quiet.

Ed rounded the last corner of the maze of hallways and descended down the last staircase, briskly slipping through the door behind a clumsy couple walking hand in hand and heading past them to the stone circle. As he had expected, Al wasn't there yet; probably talking to those girls again.

Even though it had only been the first day, Edward pretty much had everything figured out about this particular school. It may be in a smaller town than most, but it operated just the same as any other school. There were the stereotypical preps, jocks, and crack heads, along with the geeks and nerds, and just the people who didn't belong anywhere. Edward tended to be one of those type of teenager; always different and standing out, but never really joining one of those ridiculous "cliques" as they seemed to call them here. Edward also knew that Maddy and her friends were like that as well.

Edward found himself liking the odd bunch; they were, in a way, another clique like the rest of them, but they sure didn't operate like one. Nobody really seemed to care how they looked or how much money they had. Instead they focused on what was on the inside, and decided to be themselves. That, Edward decided, was something much to be admired for. Maddy had her odd little quirks; like how she would start sentences off in a serious tone, then lose her train of thought and seem to totally drift away, completely forgetting that she had just left someone hanging. Edward found the trait quite cute actually; it was funny to watch her freak out once she realized she had forgotten to finish her sentence. He also liked the way she would doodle on her tests or assignments when she was supposed to be busy working, or when she would secretly pull out her drawing pencil and begin a new piece of artwork on a clean sheet of paper, always making sure the teacher wasn't looking. He always noticed that when Maddy got bored, she would completely tune out the noise in the classroom and start drawing, or fix her eyes on some inanimate object intently and stare at it for a while, obviously deep in another world.

Sara was a little more reserved he noticed, but he also found that she was completely different when she was with her friends. She was outgoing and playful, always having a slight smirk on her face when she was with Maddy especially, but when she was with someone she wasn't quite comfortable with yet, she was a totally different person. He also noticed how her voiced changed with the people she spoke with or what mood she was in; with people she was newly acquainted with, her voice was high and unsure of itself, but when she was with her friends it was normal and a bit sharp. He also noticed that when she got angry, her voice would go about an octave higher, and her friends seemed to always make fun of her for that. You always knew she was mad when her voice got like that, they said.

Allen was a new student too, he learned from Maddy later that day. Sara and Allen had Biology and Geometry together with him as it turned out, the last two classes of the day, and Edward sure didn't mind. Allen was an easy person to get along with, always smiling and looking out for others it seemed. He reminded Edward a lot of Alphonse. What Ed couldn't help but notice however was the way he would stare at Sara when he thought no one was looking. He had a feeling that Allen had some feelings for Sara, even though they had just met that day; Ed shrugged to himself, not blaming him. The two of them seemed to really "click" in a sort of way, and Sara was cute. She had quite a personality, much like Maddy. Edward decided to give him his silent blessing and watch the relationship unfold from the sidelines.

Briann, or Bri as she liked to be called, was quite the hyper one at best. She always seemed to have spurts of miraculous energy at the randomness of times, and seemed rather content with doing moderately odd things without any hesitation. Sara had told him earlier in class how they both bought some fluffy multi-colored fox ears from some kind of convention they went to that pinned into your hair, and Bri went around the whole school wearing them without a care in the world. She definitely had a lot of confidence, to say the least.

Ambyr was a bit quieter than most of her friends, and was positively the smallest girl he had ever seen. She kept her hair very short, dyed at a chestnut brown much like Edward's mother he noted. She had an airy voice that hid itself behind an adorable smile and giggle that always seemed contagious, and her and Bri were the best of buds it seemed. Ambyr had also taught herself how to play the piano, just like Maddy had said, and as he expected and she was quite gifted. She even came up with her own complicated songs to play for her friends at lunch or after school, and she was very proud of them.

Sam was definitely the most nervous girl Edward had ever met. When she met someone new, it seemed that she had absolutely no idea what she was supposed to do, and she always thought that she did something wrong. Lavi proved how fragile she was to the opposite sex when he asked her to marry her at lunch, positively scaring the girl half to death. By what Edward had gathered however, Samantha was quite intelligent, even though she always slacked off on her homework. And Lavi was right; she was very pretty.

Allen had introduced the lecherous Lavi to the group, and the mischievous red head had already proved himself to be quite the womanizer. Apparently him and Allen were adoptive brothers and lived together, so they were like best friends. Allen also introduced his old friends from China and Japan; Yu Kanda, who seemed rather reserved, but even so Edward found himself quite liking him. The Chinese girl was nice too, and it almost seemed like Lavi had a bit of a crush on her…

…almost. Edward still wasn't quite sure on that part.

Snapping back to reality, Ed noticed that he was so lost in his thoughts he didn't seem to realize that he had subconsciously sat down on the stone bench of the circle, his book bag on the ground at his feet and his hands behind his head to relax his neck. With a bemused sigh, Edward took out his pocket watch; it had been ten minutes since the stupid bell had rung, so where was Al?

As Edward stood there pondering between the idea of Al either flirting with girls or actually helping a teacher or something, he noticed Maddy pushing herself through the heavy double doors at the entrance, idly stuffing some crappy drawings into her backpack and trying to walk straight at the same time. Edward couldn't help but smile at himself; as good as this girl was at her artwork, multi-tasking was not her forte. Edward simply watched as she finally closed her bag properly after successfully getting the bundle inside, making her way towards him. Her eyes flashed with recognition when she noticed him sitting there, and she picked up her pace.

"Hi!" she greeted cheerfully to the boy, plopping beside him on the bench. "Are you waiting for your ride?"

Edward shook his head. "No, I'm just waiting for Alphonse. We walk home, since it isn't that far away. It's just down the road from here actually," he finished, pointing vaguely to his right. Maddy nodded and grinned.

"Oh, I see. My mom picks me up here when she's done with work. She sometimes gets here in about fifteen minutes, or a couple hours; it honestly just depends on the day. I always just wait here and listen to music."

Edward groaned. "That sounds boring," he began, an amused smile on his face. "If you want, you can come to my house when your mom works late. You can just walk home with Al and I."

Maddy's mood brightened immediately. "Really? Your mom wouldn't mind?"

"Well…" Ed started awkwardly, looking away. "Honestly, I don't live with my mom. She died six years ago."

Maddy looked crestfallen. She had no idea they had to go through something like that, at such a young age. "That…jeez, I'm sorry…"

Edward laughed. "Oh please, it's alright! Al and I are fine. There's no reason to apologize, I promise!" Maddy giggled a bit at his sudden optimism, then changed her expression to that of mere curiosity.

"If you don't mind me asking, then who do you live with? Your father?"

A sigh escaped from Edward's lips, and Maddy thought at first that she had said something she shouldn't have.

"He left before Mom died. I honestly have no idea where he is right now…but anyway, I live with my uncle." Edward's nose wrinkled at the last word. "Well actually, he's not really my uncle. He just sort of adopted us after we told Granny we wanted to travel. He's a writer, so he likes that a lot; he didn't mind taking us in. He owed Granny anyway."

Maddy's eyes filled with excitement, obviously willing Ed to continue. He couldn't help but oblige.

"His name's Roy Mustang, have you heard of him? He and I honestly don't get along very well…but it's not bad per say. It's not like I don't totally enjoy our quarrels. Anyway, apparently Granny helped him out when he was just starting out as a writer, so she insisted that he adopt us. In other words, she totally blackmailed him."

An evil grin spread across Ed's face as he said this, and Maddy laughed.

"You're funny, you know that Ed?"

Edward blushed at the compliment, then looked away in embarrassment.

"Th-thanks…"

Just then a silver blue van screeched it's way up to the curb, a loud honk accompanying it's entrance with an expectant woman in the driver's seat. Maddy got up as if on cue.

"Well, that's probably my mom. I'll see you tomorrow Edward!"

Edward smiled and nodded gratefully. "Indeed you will. Have a good rest of your day, Maddy."

At the manner in which Edward was talking, Maddy felt the crimson blush making its way up to her cheeks, and she quickly nodded and turned away to hide it. Edward watched as she grabbed her denim backpack and scrambled down the stairs to the curb, observing her make her way halfway down the stairs. Confusion made its way into her expression as she realized that she was mistaken, and she turned around sheepishly in embarrassment as the actual child of the woman raced down the steps past her to the van, but she was stopped abruptly by a certain chubby narcissist; Marcus. Edward quickly got up to go stop the flaming idiot, but Maddy shot him a look that obviously meant she wanted to handle this herself. Maddy tried to go around the large boy, an obviously annoyed look in her eyes, but Marcus wouldn't allow it. He grabbed her wrist, verbally insisting that they needed to talk, and Ed fought back the urge to run over there and smack him, but Maddy yanked her hand away, her eyes flashing with anger. The momentum of her retaliation made the foot the was closest to the edge step slip off, and as Ed watched in horror, Maddy found herself tumbling down the stone steps, a dumbfounded Marcus watching after her, and she finally stopped in a heap at the bottom of the set of stairs. She wasn't moving.

Edward jumped down from the ledge of the circle immediately, completely ignoring the height, and sat Maddy up into a sitting position. Marcus just stood at the halfway point of the steps, completely frozen.

"What the hell did you do, you idiot?" Edward roared over his shoulder at the dazed boy, his eyes seething with anger. His shouting didn't seem to faze him, but Ed didn't care. It was obvious from the blood oozing out of the back of her head that Maddy had slammed her head against the wall when she got to the bottom, and hard. She wasn't even conscious. Edward knew it would probably be best to get her to a hospital to have her checked out, but he didn't have any way of getting there. It was already 4:00; most of the teachers and students were gone from the school already, the few stragglers only being lazy students that probably wouldn't be of any help at all. Ed decided it would be best to take her to his house right away, scooping her up immediately and turning to run down the street to his house.

"You!" he snarled, his head snapping in Marcus's direction, who had finally broken from his trance. "Find and tell my brother that I had to take Maddy to our house for an emergency! If you don't find him, expect a broken nose tomorrow morning, you got that?"

Edward's threat seemed effective, as a glint of fear flashed through Marcus's dull eyes, and he rapidly scampered up the stairs and burst through the double doors, finally out of sight. Ed sighed and began running, turning a corner and coming onto a small street with his house already in sight. It was by now pretty late, so Mustang should be home before too long, but right now he needed to get Maddy the help she needed. He came upon the two story house in an instant, crossing the well-kept lawn to the front door, hastily bending down to pull the house key from the potted plant sitting under the left window. Ed grunted under the extra weight as he straightened up to unlock the door, and fumbled with the key to get it in the lock. He turned it quickly, and with a small click the door opened, Edward rushing inside without bothering to close the door behind him. He set the unconscious girl his couch in the white washed living room, leaving her there to go get a cold wash cloth and some bandages.

Maddy awoke to the feeling of a nice cold cloth over her forehead, her eyes heavy with the whereabouts of sleep. She opened her eyes gingerly, blinking away the blurriness and drowziness, a slight pain coming from the back of her head as her mind began working again. As the haziness faded away, Maddy's eyes shifted upwards to see Edward leaning over her, holding the wash cloth on her forehead as he lifted her up slightly to check the bandage on her wound, not noticing her being awake. Maddy's face turned bright red at the feeling of being so close to the handsome boy, her face heating up even more with her already apparent fever, and she shut her eyes tight in an effort to still seem asleep as he gently set her back down again. Maddy listened fervently as Edward sighed, obviously a bit frustrated.

"Where the hell is Alphonse already? It's been a freaking hour! He should be here! And so should that bastard Mustang!"

Maddy fought back a giggle as she listened to the boy talk to himself.

"Dammit, I need to call her mom…she's probably worried sick by now. Maybe the number's on her cell phone…?"

Maddy felt Edward lean over her again, obviously searching for any sign of a phone on her, his gold bangs brushing loosely against her nose; and Maddy sneezed.

"Ah!" Edward fell backward, startled.

Maddy sat up quickly, an apologetic look on her face. "I'm sorry! It's just, your hair tickled my-achoo!"

Ed watched her sneezing fit, obviously pleased with her being awake while stifling a laugh. "That's ok; I'm just glad you're awake. Where's your cell phone? I'd like to call your mom and tell her where you are…"

"Oh, it's in my bag," Maddy answered speedily, absentmindedly feeling the back of her head where the bandage was. Ed noticed this, and smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry about that; it was a hasty job I guess," he gestured toward her head.

"Oh, not at all! I'm really grateful you know…" Maddy began quietly, looking away. Edward smiled at her in response, then proceeded to her backpack to search for her cell.

"Which pocket is it in?" he asked idly, not looking up.

"The side pocket with the zipper," she answered blankly, giggling as she watched him struggle with the said zipper. "It jams sometimes…I really need to fix that I guess."

Just then Edward finally yanked the cell phone free from the small opening he managed from the tough zipper, then looked through her contacts for her mother's number.

"Just hold on a sec, ok? Relax and make yourself at home," he suggested as he held the phone to his ear and turned away. Maddy nodded gratefully and sat back, resting her head on the pillow behind her. She listened as Ed explained what had happened, and gave her his address to pick her up. He assured her calmly that Maddy was alright, elucidating that she only needed some rest and she'd be fine. Maddy smiled to herself as she could hear every word her mother was saying loud and clear, fighting back the urge to giggle aloud when she noticed Edward holding the phone a safe distance away from his ear. Her mother seemed satisfied, as she kept thanking Edward over and over, but Ed simply said it was nothing, and they both finally hung up.

"Well?" Maddy asked expectantly as Edward plopped himself on the couch by her feet, even though she had heard almost their entire conversation. "What'd she say?"

"I gave her my address and she said she'd be here as soon as she could. She should be here in about fifteen minutes or so…"

Just then the frantic footsteps could be heard from the front door, and a panting Alphonse stumbled into the living room, slamming the door behind him hurriedly. Edward smiled at him pleasantly, but then his eyes fixed dangerously on a creature his younger brother held in his arms warily, the unmistakable eyes staring right back at him.

"I'm sorry brother, I got here as fast as I could," he stammered between pants. "My biology teacher found a stray cat outside, so I offered to watch it while she ran to her house to get a cat carrier. Some guy finally found me and told me where you were, but the teacher wasn't back yet, so…"

Alphonse guiltily looked down at the cat in his arms, then looked back up to Edward, his eyes huge like a puppy.

"I promise it will only be until Mrs. Beyer picks him up…you don't mind, do you…?"

Edward stared hardly at his younger brother, his gaze never leaving the other's. Then his expression softened into reluctant defeat, and the older blond shrugged.

"Sure, I guess it's alright. Just make sure Mustang doesn't see it. "

Alphonse shrieked with glee like a child, nodding profusely at his brother's order.

"Don't worry brother, you can count on me! I promise I'll take good care of him while he's here, and I'll…" Alphonse didn't stay long enough for his statements to be audible, as he was already running up the staircase to his room. Ed sighed again, a little surprised that the joy of having a kitten in the house made him forget about their injured guest, then turned back to Maddy.

"Sorry about that. Al adores cats, but he's never been allowed to have one before; I'm afraid he was so happy he kind of forgot about you…"

Maddy shook her head amusedly. "Don't worry about it, I understand. My dad's allergic to cats, and I've always wanted one. I think I know how he feels to be honest."

Ed smiled gratefully and did a little stretch. Maddy couldn't help but notice the leanness of his body; she could tell that he was a lot stronger than he first let on. While she was in her girly trance, Edward glanced at her awkwardly, a questioning look in his eyes as to why she was staring at him so intently.

"Um, is something wrong?"

Maddy jumped at the sudden dialogue, realizing that she had been staring at him and turning as red as a tomato. "N-no! I'm sorry, I was just—"

She was cut off by the sound of Edward laughing and she looked down, letting her bangs fall over her face to hide her blush. Ed's giggle died down momentarily, and he patted her head reassuringly.

"No worries. Anyway, I think I feel like some tea. Would you like some? It will make you feel better."

Maddy nodded gratefully at the change of subject, and Edward got up, stretched again, then walked lazily through the archway leading to the kitchen. Maddy took the opportunity of her host's absence to take a good look at the house; All of the walls were a warm crème color, a few pictures and paintings hanging randomly on each. A bay window made itself apparent in front of the couch, potted plants hanging from the ceiling on each side with their vines protruding down below them. Figurines of different animals stood on the window sill looking out, whilst a watering can sat in the corner next to them for later use on the plants above them. There was a glass coffee table with a black frame placed in the middle of the room between the couch and the window, decorated with more statues and a vase in the middle with freshly picked lilacs, some petals littering the table directly below it. On the other side of the table across from her were two cushioned chairs, one seemingly a rocker and the other normal.

She listened as the sounds of a tea pot being put on a stove echoed through the house, and was startled her phone began to ring. Gingerly she slipped her phone out of her jean pocket and pressed the talk button, not bothering to look at the Caller ID.

"Maddy!" A voice shouted from the other end of the line, making Maddy wince and hold the phone a little farther from her ear.

"Sara…? What-"

"Are you ok? Your mom called me to come pick you up. She got held up at work, so she can't pick you up like she promised. Gosh, that bastard Marcus is gonna pay…"

Maddy giggled at her friend's remark; Sara may be small and gentle when she was in a good mood, when she got angry, she got pissed. Maddy wouldn't be surprised to see Marcus with a broken leg and a messed up face the next day if Sara got a hold of him.

"Ok, ok, jeez, calm down. I'm fine now, so don't worry. And you don't need to beat Marcus up; I don't want my friend getting suspended this year ok?"

Maddy heard a reluctant "Yes ma'am" from the other end and laughed, then proceeded to tell Sara the address but realized she had no idea what it was. Edward had said it over the phone to her mother, but she couldn't remember it for the life of her.

"Um, hold on, lemme go check," Maddy started, sliding her legs off the side of the couch to get up. Ed however, was walking up to her with a tray carrying their tea, then set it down hastily when he realized she was trying to get up, putting a strong hand on her shoulder to keep her on the couch.

"Look you," he said sternly. "I know I said you'd be better in no time, but that doesn't mean you can get up yet. Wait until your mom gets here and I'll carry you to the car, ok?"

Maddy blushed a bit, then shook it off as she realized the latest news.

"Um, my mother won't be coming actually; Apparently she got held up at work, so Sara's coming to pick me up. She'll be taking me home instead. Is that alright?"

Ed blinked. "Sara can drive? Somehow I never imagined that…" At Maddy's amused nod, Edward proceeded to answering her earlier question. "Oh, no problem. I don't mind at all, as long as she takes good care of you."

"Oh, she will! I think I should be more worried about her not killing Marcus tomorrow…"

Edward laughed at that. "Yeah, she seems like quite the fireball when she gets mad."

Maddy laughed as well, folding her arms proudly. "Yep, that's my Sara."

Ed bit back another giggle, then proceeded to serving her tea. Once Maddy had realized what she was doing, she insisted on doing the deed herself, saying something about her owing him. Edward strongly refused, but he quickly learned that she was quite stubborn, giving in reluctantly.

As they both sat back comfortably side by side with their cups of tea, Maddy sipped at it gingerly, enjoying the essence of the tea. It was probably the best she had ever had; it was just normal Lipton tea she noted, but for some reason, it tasted really damn good.

Maddy giggled to herself at the crude comment that appeared in her head, finishing the tea quickly and setting the empty cup back on the tray sitting on the table in front of them. Edward blinked at the speed of her tea-drinking, then shrugged and chugged the rest of his own tea himself, finishing with a triumphant Aaah and setting his cup down next to hers, sending a challenging look over to her. Maddy smirked, then poured them both another cup, and as she handed it to him, they nodded to each other in instant understanding.

"One…two…drink!"

They both immediately chugged the tea and slammed their empty cups down at the exact same time, and at their unison both burst out in laughter.

"You're quite the drinker there Ed," Maddy stammered between giggles.

"Same to you," Edward shot back, his eyes tearing up from the hard laughter. The fit didn't quiet down for a good five minutes, and then the two rested tiredly on the couch again, both of their heads rested on the back of the couch as they finally caught up on their breathing. They let their heads fall to whatever side to face each other, still smiling, and Maddy felt the tugs of sleep coming on.

She fought to keep her eyes open, but it felt like invisible weights were resting precariously on her eyelids, and she let them flutter close, and just as she shifted and rested her head absentmindedly on Edward's shoulder next to her, she heard an obnoxious snicker come from above her.

Maddy's eyes snapped open, and she sat up quickly, Edward doing the same with a blush on his cheeks.

A tall man with jet black hair stood in front of the two of them, his hands lazily on his hips and a smirk on his lips with an eyebrow raised.

"So Ed, I see you finally got yourself a girl. Nothing naughty in the living room, have I made myself clear?"


End file.
